St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-05

VI 0A Arizona, and
though very long and carrying an i'm
mense quantity of water, was now, and
at the point where we crossed. but a
trifiing stream. the great body of water
having sunk in the sand, leaving little
else but wide bed and low, broken
banks. We crossed just before coming
to the lonesome house, and l was i'm
pressed with the primeval, Out-Of-the-
world appearance of the surroundings
in general. 4 most dismal-lOolIing blue
heron tapped his wings and flew away
from the SOapy bed of the river: an i'm
mense fiSh-hawk kept solitary watch
on the top of a tall, white, dead cotton
wood tree, and the woods were huShed
IN sort of awful silence like that of the
interior of Louisiana swamp.
A SAND STORM.
There was black cloud ahead of us
and terrible storm seemed to be gath
ering. There was not breeze enough to
stir leaf, but the air was tremulouS
with the approaching outbreak. When
we had come to the house, which stood
on the second bank of the river, and at
the edge of wide plain of misa, the
clouds were tumbling and rolling over
the mountains beyond in manner
known only to Arizona. 1t was i'll Au-
gust, the day had been very hot, the
earth was little bteter than dry sandy
desert, and the clouds looked like great
volumes of steam as they rushed down
into the plain. We called to see if there
was any one in the house. An old man,
bare-headed and in his shirt-SleeveS.
came around the corner and asked us in
a hOarSe, shattered sort of voice What
we would have. Shelter from the StO:m,
we said. He raised his hand to his eyes,
looked out towards the mountains and
replied that it was nothing but sand and
wind, but that we might get out and
come in if we liked.
We hardly had time to faSten our
horses before the wind came on to blow
fearfully. The sand arose in sort of
bluisll-yellow cloud. with a loud, whist
Ting roar. AS the head of the sand
cloud came sweeping up the plain, it
looked like a section of the ocean com
ing towards us in a solid wall hundreds
of feet deep. 1t fell upon Us with ter
rifle force, almost SutfOcating us. filling
the air and making noise like the pelt-
ing of fine hailStOneS. We ran into the
house, but there was but little relief
there, as the fierce wind drove the sand
and small stones through every crack
and crevice. binding our eyes. 1t be-
came against the house i'll shocks like
the waves in storm at sea breaking
against the sides of ship. There was
no lightning, no thunder, nothing but the
crashing, crushing blasts OF wind and
the sheets of sand. This lasted quite
thirty minutes. 1t seemed that the
whole earth had blown away. The sand
and dust had settled and the air had
cleared, but the wind continued to blow
fiercely. The temperature had gone
down fully twenty degrees, though not
a drop of water had fallen. The wind
gradually fell TO delightful breeze and
the evening was one of the most pleas
ant / ever enjoyed i'll Arizona.
THEY KILLED HIS PARTNER.
But we did not spend the evening at
the house. Our host was most mys-
teriOuS person. If he was peculiar in
appearance or surroundings he certainly
WIS unconscious of it. He never be-
trayed for one moment any hint or SuS-
picion that we should think it strange
or unusual that he should be found liv-
ing alone in the depths of an almost UNI
travelled wilderness where SuccOr in
case of need would be impossible and
where existence was reduced to little
less than all association with unspeak-
ing nature. He was cheerful. talked as
if we were but two of many visitors he
had had that day, when in reality we
were the only white men who had gone
that way perhaps for a month: was
glad to know something of the outside
world, but heard it with perfect Seren-
ity and cOmpOSure, and seemed to con-
slider life well worth living. There was
an unutterable loneliness about the
place. l was reminded of the solitary
blue heron | had seen fly from
the bed of the river, and the sen
tinal-like fiSh-hawk that was perched
at the top of the tall white cottonwood.
We had come into the house through an
opening in the rear, the front door was
old and weather-beaten, and had not
been opened for many years. 1t seemed
to have grown into and become an indi-
visible part of the walls themselves.
The entire exterior looked worn and de-
serted. The rains had washed deep
burrows down the walls, and the sun
dried bricks had been melted into one
indistinct mass. 1t was all uncOmTOnly
large house for Arizona, having four or
five rooms. with no floor but the earth.
| saw a bedstead on which lay shot
gun. Winchester rifle. a large revolver
and belt full of cartridges. These were
scattered about in miscellaneous
way, as if their owner had slept
with them. In another room was
small cooking stove and a low
table, on which were cup,
came from under the table-a black,
dOeful-lOOking cat-which had a cavern
Gus. death-like voice. | looked into
still another room. which was dark, and
from which deserted, dank, repulsive
air came. | could see the earth had
been dug into and pitched into heaps,
and it seemed to me that l could hear
the sound of crawling reptiles. The
floors of all the rooms were torn up as
if they had been ploughed and spaded.
Every stool, every piece of wood or
metal, the whole interior, looked grimy
and uncomfortable. 1t was the most
miserable human habitation | had ever
seen. There was sort of unison in the
Indebtedness of things that was most
depressing. The voice of the black cat
made me shudder, because it was so in
keeping with the mournful solitariness
that was enthroned there. This cat
was the perSonificatiOn of all the evil
Omens and qualities that | had ever
heard attributed to cats.
The old man had lived here twenty
two years. He was the oldest settlerin
the county, and had no white neighbOr
nearer than twenty miles. His was the
only house we had seen in the whole
days travel. He seemed to be glad to
see us, and bestowed on us all the hos
pitality at his command. He cooked
something, but when l walked into the
black. greasy kitchen my appetite failed.
and l excused myself on the ground of
having eaten a late lunch. Well, he
had story, of course-all hermits have
81 q
lished a trading post for the Pima In
dams, whose reservation is near by.
They were the only white men in all
that region, and had their goods hauled
in wagons long distance. They made
money and considered themselves rich.
They had spent thirteen years in that